Random dissertations into business and marketing.

May 08, 2012

The results are in from the quick poll of CMO’s and marketing executives regarding weather it would be a mistake to abandon blogging for other social media efforts. The overwhelming answer was – YES. Here are some direct quotes:

As more and more people rely on such important resources as Wikipedia for detailed information, I see B2B blogs of equal importance. If a B2B company is the world expert on blue rectangular widgets, then they should be talking about them on their own blog, and others. When a customer or key influencer is searching for specific details about that specific product, their blog will be viewed as the go-to resource. Builds credibility. Expands awareness. Generates leads. And even helps past customers feel better about their decisions. – Robert F.

It depends on the product you're selling, but in general, if you have something interesting to say about the product or market, then I think a B2B blog is a great vehicle. Show your customers that you're an expert, and become an invaluable resource for them. Then use the blog content as material for your other social media platforms. The sales team can use the articles to start a conversation. And as mentioned before, it seriously helps SEO results. If you only have the resource to do one "digital" plaform well, make sure it's a blog. – Steve C.

I'd say it depends on the value provided. Blogging can provide thought leadership as well as keyword relevance for search engine optimization. There are so many variables involved to determine the best plan to achieve desired results. – Bill M.

February 08, 2012

This is one of the most important lessons I've learned the hard way over the years - "People do what you inspect, not what you expect."It doesn't matter if you hire people from MIT, Harvard, or an industry leader. Inspect their work. People used to managing blue collar workers know this; tech managers not as much.

February 01, 2012

So you just got that promotion. You are no longer and individual contributor. Now you have a budget, people and more pressure to perform. So now what? I have seen many a new manager fail in my time - in both small and big companies. They had big plans, but those same plans blew up in their face.

Perhaps if they had only read Dwight D. Eisenhower's quote in which he said "Plans are nothing; Planning is everything." This is not to say that plans are not good. You always need a plan. But, you also have to understand the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead, and you have to know how to best take them on as you are forced to deviate from that plan.

Here are five simple rules a new marketing manager must follow to be successful:

Make Mistakes Early: Huh? Really? Why would I tell you to blow it in your new job. Well, I am not telling you to do that. What I am saying is that you must make small mistakes so you can learn iteratively. Fail fast, and fail often. Just don't sink the boat! A recent essay by Allison Gopnik in the Wall Street Journal called What's Wrong With the Teenage Mind discusses the development of an adolescents brain and how they react to growing up. In the article she states that, "You get to be a good planner by making plans, implementing them and seeing the results again and again. Expertise comes with experience." Exactly. So go make a plan and then make a mistake. Then figure out what you learned and how to adapt inside your organization. This does not just apply to a teenager. It is the basis for learning and planning for your life. Besides - you are a new manager, you have a grace period to screw up a bit without getting canned.

Get a Base Hit: Do not, no matter how enticing it seems, go for the big project (e.g. the "home run") in your first six months on the job. You must establish credibility. Show your peers, team and boss that you can deliver. Early wins are critical. You have to show that you can deliver some sort of impact in a very short period of time. Somebody is watching you - to either prove that you were the right hire...or the wrong one. (Yes, I said it. There will be folks who really want you to fail.) Also, you might find that a simple win may take you down a different and more enlightened path, as others bestow more trust in you - and in turn, more insider knowledge.

Kill Something You Own: There is no better way to show that you are ready to do anything and everything to ensure company success than by killing one of your own sacred cows. Don't kill something for the sake of doing so. Truly find a project or program (if you can) that is under-performing. Then kill it. It shows to everyone that you mean business. It also means that if you are willing to kill your own project, that you are also open to their advice and input on new things.

Get Out of Your Office: Sure, you know marketing. But do you know your customer? Better yet, do you know the sales force that is ready to pounce on your and your team and call you out for living in the ivory tower and not understanding what they deal with every day? Go ride along with a sales member or sit and listen to inbound sales calls. Bounce your ideas and insights off them. Find out why your original plan wont work. Trust me, it won't in its original form.

Be Ronald Reagan: No, I am not saying you have to be an actor or a Republican (although it would be cool if you were). You must embody his key saying, "Trust but verify." Trust that the folks who came before you were not total idiots (most of the time). Realize that they most likely have friends and allies still inside the building (perhaps it's those same folks hoping you fail). Just don't totally believe what you see or here unless you can read and analyze the metrics behind it. Dive into the facts. Verify what was happening and why it happened. Then augment your plan accordingly.

Well, that's it. No need to complicate the matter any further. Good luck. Have fun.

May 24, 2011

A brand needs to be simple. But getting to the simple idea is the hardest part. Finding something obvious and making it evocative, compelling and relevant can be tricky. On the other hand, if you successfully complete that task, the rest of the branding process takes on a life of its own.

The first key step is to create an effective Brand Idea. Once you have that, all things flow from it (positioning tag line / straps, tone, etc). To that end, there are 5 basic things you need to avoid when developing a brand idea. These ideas can be found in more detail in the book Brand Simple: How The Best Brands Keep It Simple and Succeed by Allen Adamson.

There are no magic bullets: Just because Phillip Morris spent $300MM to market its premier smokeless cigarettes, the product flopped. Why? The branding could not make up for a bad idea. Smokeless cigarettes appealed to non-smokers versus smokers.

Don't get caught up in group think mentality: David Olgivy once said, "search all your towns and cities, you will find no statues of committees." Don't allow your bold and brilliant idea get pummeled into mediocrity. Stick up for your idea.

Make sure your idea is durable: Any brand can be a trend. Every SUV can seat 7 now, and there are ton of MP3 players. Your brand idea must be able to stand the test of time and stay ahead of the brand and technology curve. Example: "Apple. Think Different."

Don't be afraid to make a clear choice: You can't be all things to all people. you need to focus our audience to ensure that our brand idea is relevant to the right group. Think about Dyson. Not everyone wants or can afford a $500 "suctionless vacuum". But their focus allowed them to create a powerful high end brand on a key functionality. "Others clog. Ours Doesn't." Who does your company REALLY consider it's prime customers to be, and what is the single key value you are going to bring them?

Make sure your business strategy and your brand idea are aligned: Look at the original satellite phone from Iridium in 1998-99. Their brand idea was great ("Communicate. Anytime. Anywhere.), but the product fell short in the eyes of the customer. It was less than elegant, it was very expensive ($3000) and did not work inside buildings. TiVo, on the other hand, was the opposite. Their brand initially failed to evoke the life changing emotion it provided . "TV on your terms" as a concept was underwhelming compared to what you really experienced.

May 11, 2011

According to the findings of the 2010 Global Career Brainstorming Day run by Blue Steps, tomorrow’s top candidates for executive positions possess the following characteristics:

high emotional IQ

collaborative working style

innovative thought process

superb communication skills

multicultural background and experience

bilingual language skills

strong sense of self-awareness

“take-ownership” attitude

very intrapreneurial style

In addition they stated, "Perhaps even more relevant, top executive recruiters at a recent AESC meeting agreed that their client companies are seeking leaders who exhibit a 'followership' leadership style, are open to change, learn from their mistakes, and have a clear vision for the future."

May 05, 2011

If you have been following the news lately in the world of media, pricing and marketing you are aware of Ticketmaster's new pricing strategy. In short, they will allow the prices of tickets for concerts to float up and down (assuming between some minimum and maximum) based on demand. This is basically the same system scalpers have used for years. Ticketmaster is just putting a structure to the concept.

This is all based on the theory of supply and demand. As demand increases, prices increase. As demand falls, prices fall. One would not want prices to go to zero, or conversely astronomically high. A minimum would protect profit margins, and a maximum would protect against the front page article that Ticketmaster was selling tickets at $4,500 a piece to a twelve year old for the next Justin Bieber concert.

but seriously, this is a model that should have been adopted long ago for this type of product. It forces the venues and booking agents to bring top talent, and it rewards those who are producing the best product in the eyes of the customer. So, the question now is, what other products and services would be perfect for this type of model? Here are five quick ideas.

1) Apple iTunes: Please, not every song is worth $.99 or $1.29. Most albums have a handful of good songs on them - if that. Why not make this dynamic. That hot new song could be worth half the album's price and the rest of them just a sliver of it. Don't skoff at that. How many times have you bought an an entire album in the past because of a few songs? Yes, I just used the word album, which means I grew up with vinyl records. But you get my point. You buy the whole thing because the others may grow on you overtime, or you just want to say you have the collection of all the songs etc.

2) Movies: Everyone has seen a movie that they knew was possibly average and then wondered why they just forked out $8. In that same vein, many of us have decided not to see a "Part 3" comedy because we know it will stink with the exception of a few gems and its not worth the $8. But if it was for $5 would you go? I would say the likelihood would be MUCH higher. This reminds me of that often spoken, yet not very intelligent saying of, "Something of something is better than nothing of nothing."

3) Restaurant Meals: Hey, you want that great fillet everyone is getting? Well, there is not many of them so you will have to pay if demand goes up in my little eatery tonight. Don't want to pay that much? Here, have the baked cod for $5. Seriously though, I would venture you could make much more money in a restaurant by pricing your food based on this demand principal.

4) Your local Bar or Tavern: This would be hilarious. Mass runs on beers and wines when their stock price drops. Serious strategy and hedging going on from patrons. Your best friend whispering in your ear at 10:30 pm saying, "When the Pabst Blue Ribbon hits 25 cents, I am going to kill it." I vaguely remember someone telling me of a bar that does this today - perhaps in Manhattan. If you know, send me a note. I must go there.

5) Professional Athlete Salaries: Hey, I know you think you are a stud. Sure, you had a huge year last year. Tell you what. We start you off at an annual rate of $20 million. But, if you hit 20% less home runs or score 50% less touchdowns....well, you know what that means. Oh, and that rookie over there who just KILLED it this year. He just bumped up to your $20 million. No more locked in to 5 year contracts. Pay for performance....just like the rest of us.

April 29, 2011

“In a world of thieves, the only final sin is stupidity.” Hunter S. Thompson

I chose this quote to lead off my thoughts on hackers for a very specific reason. Hackers, in most cases, are thieves. Yes, there are some who hack to prove a point but do not remove a thing. Either way, a hacker shares the same trait as a thief suggested by Hunter S. Thompson.

But, dont think that hackers are stupid. In fact, hackers are probably far smarter and more capable from a technical standpoint than the bulk of the information technology folks with degrees sitting in companies across the world (I know I just made a few folks I know angry with that comment).

But let me let you in on another secret. We need hackers. Hackers are in many ways good for the corporate, economic and social machine.

Gasp! Blasphemy you say! Look what they just did to Sony and the Playstation! They took credit card data from millions of users!

Please understand that I am not suggesting that hackers are white knights. They do horrible things. They ruin people’s lives by stealing and selling their identity, draining their bank accounts, or stealing very important and sensitive information. All of these things are very, very bad. But, let’s ponder for a moment what value hackers bring to society.

Last year, McAfee was bought by Intel for $7.86 billion. They had generated approximately $2 billion in revenue in 2009 alone. They had over 6,100 employees under the roof. As yourself one simple question – would McAfee had existed in this scope and size without hackers? Quite simply, the answer is no.

Hackers create jobs, companies and real economic revenue. Individuals and businesses want to be protected from the dreaded hacker or virus (BTW, I see the folks who write viruses as vigilante hackers who wish to prove a point versus steal. Regardless, they are still creating something to break into your systems and wreak havoc). What is more interesting is that because the average hacker is smarter than the average programmer, you need multiple programmers to work on building platforms to protect from the damage the hacker creates. Every hacker is worth a handful of jobs when you consider programmers, project managers, middle management etc.

We also must consider another multiplier effect. There is not a major industry today that has not been attacked by one type of hacker or another. The frequency of attacks has become ferocious. But this increase in proliferation and sophistication has created a similar expansion in the technology to protect against it. Why is that important?

Businesses today put in systems to protect their databases even if they have never been attacked. They are preventative. The depth and breadth of protection created and deployed in the market today is breathtaking. The systems an individual uses at home today are factors beyond what a large company would have deployed just 10 years ago. What does this all mean?

We are better prepared and safer now than ever before from hackers. Think about this, if there were just a few good hackers, would our technology be as good and as wide spread as it is today? No. Therefore, most businesses and industries we would have been more vulnerable to attack by a small band of hackers. They could feast for years on our information before a ground swell became large enough to build a massive industry to defend against them.

I know it sounds counter intuitive, but the same thing can be said for a military force. If you have two armies, one that has simply trained but rarely fought (say the Brazilian Army), versus one that has been at war constantly (say the Israeli Army), which one is better suited to protect and fight? The choice is obvious. You must have the experiences to learn from to be best equipped to defend.

So lets turn back to the Sony story. Sony will now go back and harden the Playstation system. They will innovate and build. They will possibly create a security platform that will be copied by the industry. In the end, they world will be a better place after they do this.

I know this post may upset some folks out there. But the reality is that Hackers have created billions of dollars of commerce and entire industries that employ tens of thousands of people. Without them, a good piece of today’s U.S. service economy would exist. Sad but true.

So I leave you with this final quote. This one is also sad but true.

“Thieves respect property. They merely wish the property to become their property that they may more perfectly respect it. “ Gilbert K. Chesterton

April 21, 2011

So the argument about crowdsourcing has been going on since 2009. Will it kill the agency? Back in 2009, the big worry was what would happen to the large full service brand and design agencies. Would they lose tons of revenue? Would branding become commoditized and bland? Crispin Porter Bogusky’s Colin Drummond even went so far as to say that crowdsourcing would commoditize creativity. He wrote in a blog post to his associates in the agency, “Be afraid. Be very afraid.”

So, now that we are in 2011, was this fear for real? I think it was too generalized. I also think crowdsourcing was approached with fear instead of the more appropriate alternative - embracing it. Large agencies loose more business because they are too big and lack the ability to service every client well enough. Every big agency loses an account regularly because the client realizes they have the “C” team versus the “A” team because their retainer fees are just too small to matter to Acme.Inc on Madison Ave. I dont see crowdsourcing being a greater threat to large agencies than losing talent to competitors or poor management.

I think the big questions that should have been asked, and must be asked now, is if crowdsourcing will help or hurt the SMALL agency. The answer is, it depends. I recently had a great conversation about just this topic with a good friend of mine who owns a small agency in Ohio. His business fits your classic regional / vertical niche agency with a handful of employees and clients. In short, it’s a nice lifestyle business.

I mentioned to him about some work I was aware that was being done for branding by a CEO of a small start up in DC. I suggested he look at some of the crowdsourcing sites out there (I told him to look at 99designs specifically), and ask himself how he could integrate them into his business model.

If you have ever done a project on these sites, you know it takes a ton of work and input. You can post one job for a fee of $750 and you will get 1,500 responses you have to sift through. Most are junk, but there are some darn good designers on those sites that produce some gems. As you identify them during your process, you must provide timely feedback so they can evolve t heir design to what you have asked them to achieve in your brief. This is not unlike how you manage between a client and your design team in the agency.

But, a small agency can actually reduce one of its chief vulnerabilities by leveraging a crowdsourcing site behind the scene. All small agencies are hit and miss on their creative because they usually only have one or two designers on staff. If one or both of those designers have a bad day, the agency itself risks missing the mark with client. Also, the agency can only generate so much output from those creative employees. They can only hire so many free lancers to augment that work.

Small agencies should embrace crowdsourcing as a staff augmentation model. It’s easier to sift through submissions for a brand logo that can yield 10 different options for a client from very different perspectives than creating 5 options from one designer who has a tough time breaking out from their own style. The client does not need to know – nor would they care. What is important is that they get the final product they expected.

April 13, 2011

So I am back from myself imposed sabbatical from blogging (not that anyone shed a tear or waited with baited breath). It was just something I had to do. Needed time to clear the mind, stand back from things and think. It was good. I was able to throw myself back into life and not worry about posting. I have a ton of inventory now. ﻿﻿I am ready to roll. Stay tuned.

May 27, 2009

Sure, I know what you are thinking. Persuasion Architecture is just some new lame marketing term. No, not really. It is what Information Architecture was intended to accomplish but never did. This is because information architecture is more like the Dewy Decimal System - or at least it is treated as such. Things are sorted into logical buckets and dumped into a set of wire frames that are then coded into a flashy website with cool colors and flash.

What is wrong with that you say? Well, for one thing, it never really solves the problem optimally. It is not just about making things easy to find in a logical manner, its also about driving action and interaction. Its about engaging the user and prompting them via a good design to make a decision or take an action.

Now think about how architecture - GOOD architecture, works. Whether its landscape architecture or brick and mortar based, the best architects know how to combine form and function optimally. They create a design that forces you to subtly discover things that they intended for you to stumble upon. As you walk down the hall you are presented a cubby with a striking piece of art that forces you to stop and stare. You then turn left and step into what seems to be a secrete nook that opens up into a library that you must investigate. Every room, hall and space are treated as a way to entice the "user" to interact with the design. Its about creating a world of planned discovery.

So, as you approach your next web project ask yourself, are you going to just plant grass between the pathway?